Improvement in sewing-machines



`2 Sheets-#Sheet 1. HOWE. 6L BLISS.

Sewing Machine.

Patented y.lune 30, 1857.

'2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

HOWE & BLISS.

Sewing Machine. i

Patented June 30, 1857.

UNITED STATES i PATENT GFEICE.

HowE, JE., or CAMBRIDGE, AND w. n. BLISS, oF EoSroN, MASS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-M'ACHIfN-ES.

Specification forming part ci" Letters Patent No. 17,679, dated .lune30, 1857.

struction and operation thereof. taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, which make a part ot this specification.

The subject-matter of our invention consists of certainimprovements uponVthe sewing-Inachine patented to Elias Howe, Jr., September l0, 1846, bymeans of which improvements thel Inachine is better adapted to thesewing of leather and other similar hard substances, and

to the sewing ot' a certain class of objects to which the machine of thesaid Howe, as it was formerly arranged, is not applicable. The seamformed by this machine is of the same kind and is produced by the samegeneral Inode of operation as that described in said Howes specificationof September 10, A. D. 1846.

The iirst part of our invention relates to an improvement in the mannerin which the needle and shuttle are made to co-operate to interlock thethreads; and it consists in so modifying the mechanism and movements ofthem, respectively, as that the needle may be entirely withdrawn fromthe material to be sewed after it has inserted the loop,`before theshuttle has passed through it. ln the operation of said I-Iowes machinethe shuttle is passed through the loop of the needle-thread while theneedle is inserted, which sustains the loop under the operation of theshuttle and enables it to draw through so much of the needlethread as isrequisite to permit its passage. In that case the threadis drawn throughthe material, while the needle also occupies the hole that is formed byit. In the sewing of elastic bodies, like cloth, this is not veryobjectionable; but in the sewing of leather it becomes necessary to usea comparatively large needle with deep grooves in the sides and acomparatively small thread, so that it can move past the needle when itis inserted, and in this case, when the sewing is completed, the threadwill be found not to fill the holes, which gives work a loose and inrmappearance; but in our machine a short and Small needle is used, whichpasses the loop but a short distance through the material, and theshuttle is formed with a slim pointed nose of a peculiar shape, which,in connection with a certain device to be hereinafter described, seizesthe loop and holds it until the needle is withdrawn to the surface. Theshuttle is then thrust through the loop, and as the thread aloneoccupies the hole made by the needle it can be drawn freely through thesame, and at the same time be large enough to till it. The stitch isthen drawn up in the usual manner.

The second part of our invention consists in a peculiar manner in whichwe have combined and arranged the baster and the mechanism whichoperates the shuttle and its thread, so that they may be contained andworked within the compass of a Small standard of a cylindrical or otherconvenient form, by means of which the Inachine is adapted to sewthrough the sides of objects of a tubular form-suchV as the legs ofboots, hose, and other things of a similar nature-,provided that theaperture is of suiiicient size to receive the standard.

In the drawings, Figure l represents a side elevation of the improvedmachine with the casing that surrounds the shuttle-standard removed toshow its internal Structure. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the machine,showing the arrangement of the cams and driving-shaft. Fig. 3 is anelevation of the opposite end of the machine. Fig. 4 is a plan of theouter end of the shuttle-standard, showing the construction of theshuttle, shuttlerace, and subordinate mechanism. Fig. 5 is alongitudinal section through the middle of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is atransverse section on the line .fr of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a sectionalelevation of the shuttle.- standard and a part of the machine, showing amodification of the mechanism by which the loop of the needle-thread iscaught and held while the shuttle passes through it. Fig. 8 is asideelevation of the end of the shuttle-standard modified as in Fig. 7, withthe casing removed. Fig. 9 is a plan of the same, and Fig. 10 shows theshuttle in three views drawn to full size. v

The letters refer to the saine parts in all the figures.

A is the foundation-plate of the machine, from which are projectedhorizontally two cylindrical standards, B and C. The standard B carriesa rocking shaft, D, extending longi- Judinally through the center, uponone end of which is an arm, D, by which it receives a vibrating.v motionfrom the cam R, and'upon the other end is an arm, D, which carries theneedle E. The needle is made with an eye near its point, and of acurvature corresponding to the arm D as a radius, and passes a loop ofthread through the material to be sewed in the usual manner. Theneedle-thread is wound upon the bobbin F, and is prevented fromunwinding by friction applied by any convenient device. l

Gr is a small lever, upon the lower end of which are fixed a pair oflight blades or fore ceps, g, slightly pressed together, which areoperated. It is made with a skeleton framing within, of such form as toreceive conveniently the internal mechanism, and is inclosed byacylindrical metallic casing, as is shown in the drawings.

II is an annular baster-plate, which is made with teeth upon one edge,which engage with the pinion L, and with asperities uponits externalsurface to seizethe material to be sewed and carry it forward. t

I is a wheel, which rests upon the material in sewing and presses itagainst the baster. It is attached to the arm J, which is hung upon thestandard B, and is pressed downward by the flat spring K. It performsthe function of the guardplate marked X in the specification of saidHowe before mentioned, and holds the material rm against the draft ofthe needle-thread when the stitch is drawn up. The wheel I may also beused as a baster in certain cases to' sew lengthwise or diagonally withthe standard C, and I intend so to-use it; and in this case it must beattached to the arm whichsupports it by a swivel, so that it can standat any angle with the axis of the cylinder, and have its surfaceroughened to seize the material, and the cylinder beneath it must bemade smooth, and must also be connected by proper mechanism with theother movements of the machine, so as to have a proper intermittentmotion.

L is a pinion upon the shaft M, which carries the baster-plate andreceives an Iintermittent motion from the ratchet N upon `the other endof the shaft by means of the pawl and-lever O,worked by the cam Puponthe drivin gshaft in a-sufficiently obvious manner.`

Q is a friction-spring to hold the ratchet N firm in feeding.

It is the main cam of the machine. It has two grooves in its periphery,one of which actuates the needle through the needlearm D', and the otherthe shuttle through the rocker S and 'shuttle-driver Swithin thestandard C. These grooves have such aform and relation -to each other asto give the needle and shut tlc, respectively, the movements to behereinafter described.

'I is the shuttle, the body of which'is of cylindrical form, andcontains the bobbin t, upon which the thread is wound. The point is madeof a peculiar form, as is ,shown at c in the drawings, and is thus madeto enable it to enter the loop ofthe needle-thraead, and in connecti onwith the nger c to hold the bight of it until the needleis withdrawn tothe surfaceW of the material. The shuttle has upon its under side ashallow groove, e, extending from the point through its entire length,in whichthe point of the finger 'v works as the shuttle moves back andforth, and by which the action of the finger V is insured in catchingthe loop of the needle-thread and preventing it from being carriedforward by the motion of the shuttle. rlhis linger V is inserted into anaxis, W, which permits it to vibrate, and about which a helical spring,fw, is coiled, which holds the finger up against the shuttle as it movesback and forth. IVhen the shuttle is thrown entirely back, or at theopposite end of the race from what is shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the fingerand shuttle are not in contact, but a small space is left between them,into which the needle passes when it inserts the loop.

Upon the upper side of the shuttle is placed the tongue d, in the freeend of which is a hole, through which the thread passes as it leaves theshuttle. The tongue acts as a light spring, andproduces sufiicientfriction upon the thread to prevent it from being deliveredfrom the shuttle so freely as to entangle it when in rapid operation.When the shuttle goes forward to the end of its stroke, theclipping-piece U is pressed down upon the tongue d by its cam U', andthe thread is held firm, and the distance that it shall be drawn in bythe needle-thread is thus definitely determined.

Fig. 7 shows a manner of arranging the nger V so that it seizes the loopof itself and is made to work by cams, instead of deriving its motionfrom' the shuttle, as in the manner be fore described. In this case'thefinger V is made in the form of a long lever, hung near the middle,yupon a vibrating arm, h. It has a vibratory motion in a lateraldirection that it receives from a cam, Y, upon the main shaft,

and a longitudinal movement that it receives from the cam Z, acting uponthe arm z, at-v tached to the lever. By the joint action of the cams Yand'Z the point o of the finger has a movement indicated by the dottedline-that is to say, immediately after the needle is inserted and isretracted sufficiently to open the loop the point c of the finger isthrust forward into the loop. The needle is then withdrawn to thesurface and the finger then depressed, so as to draw the loop throughthe moterial a suflicient distance to permit the passage of the shuttle.The shuttle is then passed and the finger drawn horizontally back torelease the loop and permit it to be drawn up by the retraction of theneedle-arm in the usual manner. The shuttle-thread is held by theclipping-piece U, which in this case is made of alunette" form and hungupon the spring u,- which raises it, and its lower end passes below theingerVand is drawn down, when the finger V is depressed and retracted torelease the loop, as before described.

In arranging the needle and shuttle to work in the manner firstdescribed the motions required to be given by the cam R aresubstantially as follows: The needle is first inserted and retractedsufficiently to open the loop. The shuttle is then advanced sufficientlyto insert the point thereof into the loop and for the finger V to enterthe groove e in the shuttle. The needle is then withdrawn to the surfaceand the shuttle is thrust forward through the loop, enlarging itsufficiently to permit its passage by chewing through the needle-thread.The shuttle-thread is then held and the stitch is drawn up by theretraction of the needle arm in the usual manner.

lis an adjustable stop, by means of which the extent of vibration of thelever O is determined and the length of the stitch regulated.

Many of the minor details of the machine are not particularly described,as they are not essential to our improvements.

p The standard C need not necessarily be of a cylindrical form, as anyform that will contain the mechanism for working the shuttle-thread andfor feeding the material along, and is sufficiently elongated to reachinto a tubular object the requisite distance, will answer the pur pose;but the cylindrical form here represented is the one we have tried withsuccess, and is believed to be the most convenient.

Having thus set forth our invention, what we claim as new, and for whichwe ask Letters Patent, isi 1. In connection with the mode of forming aseam by means of two threads,ias described, the seizing and holding ofthe loop of the needle-thread after it is inserted by means of the pointc of the shuttle and finger V or their equivalent, and the withdrawingof the needle from the material to be sewed before the shuttlc-thread ispassed through the loop, substantially in the manner and for the purposedescribed.

2. rIhe coinbiningand arranging of the mechanisni which works theshuttle-threadand the baster, or its equivalent, with the standard C,and in connection therewith so arranging the mechanism which works theneedle-thread as that they shall co-operate and form the seam when thestandard is inserted in objects of a tubular form, as is hereinbeforedescribed.

Boston, August 23, 1553.

ELIAS IIOVE, JR. NVM. R. BLISS.

Witnesses:

XVM. C. HIBBARD, H. A. PEELER.

